Tourney Spectator Lounge

"Most people tend to not notice me, fairly easy to achieve if you know how to blend in. Other then that, you can call me Shamus." He told Rose, his eyes pointing towards hers. "I guess things could be a bit better... And the tournament... Well, I'm only interested in one of the contestants... That Valkyrie one." Shamus answered back, his eyes darting back to the PET screen. "...Why do these fights feel like they take days to finish..." Shamus nearly silently asked himself, if Rose was listening closely she might have been able to hear it, but chances are she probably didn't.

"Oh really." Rose responded to his comment about blending in, with interest shown, though not quite reflected within. "Interesting..." was how her thought began, but it continued, "though he seems a bit strange.".

"Nice to meet you Shamus." Rose said after that next part, though she also confided to just herself that it seemed like a strange name to her. "Everyone here seems to have strange names. It's almost funny." These concepts were reflected in the smile she showed to the world, though the smile could just as well been a friendly greeting one.

"Oh. That's funny." She said, honestly and fully attentive now. "What's your interest in her?" She asked.

"Actually, it's convenient that you mention her, as her next match just so happens to be against that very young man I was speaking to when you came over." She said, making a conscious effort not to say "and interrupted us."

Rose was paying attention, as she awaited a response, but hadn't really caught whatever it was he had said under his breath. Already thinking him strange enough, she figured he could just be speaking to himself. Just to be safe, and for privacy sake, she decided not to ask him about it, or push that line of reasoning further.

"Other then the fact that she specializes in high damage, single shot attacks, coupled with the knowladge that my navi was quite entertained by her breaking the arena last round. Probably just wondering what else she would destroy by the end of this tournament." Shamus turned his head towards Rose.

"Hopefully he has the skill to last until his opponent runs out of steam, or at least make it last a good while before going down. Also, I been sitting here since I arrived in this room, and I don't think I saw you by this door when I entered, so wouldn't that mean you came over here?" Shamus turned his head back towards the PET, now speaking much more audible at it.

"Gear, going to jack you out until I can get a hold of more chips. Watch the Valkyrie vs... Halo? Holo? Match while you wait."

"Oh, alright." It was a good enough reason, Rose supposed.

"Yeah." She continued, after Shamus said what he had about HoloBeta and Aelieth going down. "I'll be rooting for Aelieth, but I fully expect Valkyrie to win."

Then she put on a fake smile after the rest, and spoke to the young man who had just pointed out a flaw in what she had said. "And I suppose you're right, I did come over here. I probably should have said "Before you said anything, huh?" Now looking genuinely good natured again. In her mind, however, she replaced "said anything" with "chimed in, interrupted".

"It's Holo." Rose said, as Shamus searched for the name. "HoloBeta."

"I swear I just said the name a bit ago." She thought. "And for someone so interested in this match, you'd think he'd know the combatants. Or have looked at the brackets. Or the screen with the match on it. Oh well." She thought, smiling again.

"So you came here just to watch the tournament?" Rose ventured, more small talk opening. "Did you consider entering?"

... Okay, perhaps she wandered a bit too far. None of the landscapes around here looked familiar, and by the time she went into the lounge, she couldn't help but stare at a map that was displayed conveniently for her viewing.

"I guess I'm in trouble," she sighed, nursing her sore fingers and stifling a yawn. "I guess I better start finding a way to go back... that is, after I check this place out." Big places always amused her, with much to explore... But she couldn't say she had as much enthusiasm as she had a few years back.

"I see that this is a tournament lounge," her PET butted in, and she knew that Rhea was speaking-- which was a surprising fact, considering how she rarely ever started a conversation. She took out the gadget from her slingbag, and she could see that Rhea was pacing about in hardly hidden excitement. "How'd you guess?" Camillia said, smiling at the screen. "... There are audio announcements all around," the Navi said bluntly, and Camillia sighed again. So much for trying to continue the conversation.

Her hands reaching for the wheels, she started carting herself to the center of the lounge. It was surprisingly filled with people, and it took her awhile to find a disabled-friendly ramp to navigate through the halls. ...Well, so much for wanting to get some fresh air. Camillia was feeling sick from so much air-conditioning...

Before the boy she had been speaking to could respond, a girl of about her age made her way into the lounge.

Rose turned to her and greeted her. "Hello there." She said with a smile. "Here to watch the tournament?" She asked. "Besides the fact that it's almost halfway over, there's no reason that that isn't a perfectly logical expectation for other peoples' reasons to be here. I can't think of any other reasons, at least." She thought.

Extending her hand to the girl for a handshake, she introduced herself. "I'm Rose Dunrae. I was in the tournament, before losing." She began. "Now I'm just watching. I'll be reporting on it in the free Net Newspaper, Gazzette.Net."

She then waited for Shamus to continue small talk, or for the ne girl to introduce herself back.

"What? No-- I mean, yes!" she said automatically, scratching her lowered head in embarrassment. ... But from what? Where did the upbeat, hot-headed Camillia go? At that thought, she raised her head once more to attempt to speak with confidence. Or at least she hoped so.

Then a hand shoved it's way in front of her. Well, that was a quick introduction. "Hello, Dunrae. Uh... Pleased to meet you?" she said, with slight doubt. The conversation didn't feel like a normal one... In fact, she didn't remember people including what they're doing into their introduction. Nevertheless, she took the girl's hands in return, shaking it gently. "I'm Camillia Ranbard. I just moved to this region," she added smoothly. Well, nobody needed to know that she actually stumbled in because she was lost and needed a huge building with a map on it.

Looking at the dark-haired man that was standing next to Rose, she gave an apologetic look to the both of them. "Oh, it appears that you are engaged in a conversation before this... I'm sorry."

"Huh." Rose thought, as the new girl refered to her by her last name. "I don't think I've gotten that yet. Well, except in like, Gym."

"Hello Camillia. Nice to meet you." She responded with a smile.

"Oh really?" The girl said, in response to the new girls comment that she had just moved here. "How do you like it?"

And then she apologized for interrupting. "Oh, it's no trouble at all. We're just, you know, chatting. You can feel free to join in. I'm sure he won't mind." She said, glancing over at Shamus.

"His name is Shamus, by the way. He's also just here to watch the tournament."

Greeting the man with a nod, she gave a fidgety smile at both of them. "Well, there's alot of things that I haven't seen before... Or maybe it's just because I wasn't really into technology in the past," Camillia said to the girl, then mentally slapped herself. Girl? She could be very much your age, fool, her mind hissed to herself, staring at Dunrae's ponytail. She hasn't tied up her own hair in years, too...

Clearing her throat, she kept the smile on her lips. "Are you interested in the tournaments, too?" the redhead inquired, averting her gaze to look at the announcement screen, blinking at the combatant's names. Boy, people had amazing naming senses.

"Yeah." Rose replied. "I am fairly interested in the battles." She looked back at the girl in the wheelchair. "Well, you know, besides what I have to watch, since I'll be writing up a general rundown of the tournament later." Then, looking back at the brackets, she continued "And I had to pay attention in the first round, anyway, since I was part of it."

"So, what do you think so far?" Rose asked, though she figured the girl hadn't had much time to think on this matter. "Pick a favorite yet?" She realized the question wasn't exactly the most logical, as the girl had just arrived. On the othand, she could have been following it on her way to the lounge. And if she didn't, "Well, you only just got here, so if you don't, that'd make sense too." She continued. Then she paused for a moment.

"Personally, I'm rooting for Anyis." And with that, Rose gestured quickly to the screen holding the battle between Anyis and MachMan. It looked to be going well enough for her favored combatant, though the situation seemed tense already.

Oh... Yeah. Dunrae was a reporter or journalist of some sort, right? It wouldn't have been a surprise that she was supposed to provide coverage for the tournament...

Camillia wasn't entirely interested in the whole tournament concept, and it wasn't as if she purposely came in here to keep track of it-- but of course, she wasn't about to disappoint Dunrae by saying so. At least the overly-pink clad girl was very honest about her side of the story. "Well, the combatants all look very hopeful... Though I do not have a favorite," she replied, shrugging. Following the girl's gesture, she stared at the battle that was displayed on the screen. Best of the best, she guessed, from the way the Navis handled the battle. It would be a long time yet before she could even perform half of those feats with Rhea.

... Speaking of Rhea, she had gone entirely quiet again. Well, Camillia was engaged in a conversation, so she didn't see any place where she can bring in Rhea to have a talk... Well not like Rhea liked to talk to her Netop anyway. She inwardly sighed.

Clearly Shamus has been paying too much attention to the match being shown in this lounge. While his head was facing down towards the PET, his eyes were focusing on the screen across the room. Even thought two members of the opisite sex were feet away, he didn't pay attention to them. He even forgot to jack Gear out of the network, or made sure to finish up a trade, and both of those actions surely can't have future repercussions.

...But that was just for the Valkyrie match, after it his eyes moved towards Rose, and spotted the newcomer. How could I have missed that? Shamus thought, simply waving at her before returning his glaze to the PET to check the BBS boards... Boy, wonder what his reaction is going to be when he sees what Gear just did.

"Oh." Rose responded to Camilia, and waited for someone to say more. Sadly, nothing much came. Shamus waved at Camilia, and both turned to watch the matches. At least Camilia had said something, but it gave her little to continue speaking about. Shamus had totally left her out to dry.

"Well, this is no way to carry on a conversation." Rose thought. "Both of them are being startlingly anti-social." After breifly considering just ignoring them and watching the matches too, she remembered her responsibility, and that she needed to make contacts rather seriously. And so she made conversation.

"So, do you bust often?" she asked, directing the question at both of them, though any response from either would have been appreciated. "Summ and I have been doing pretty decently lately. We also won our last duel in the Colosseum with a friend. That's sort of why we joined this tournament." She paused briefly, before adding. "Come to think of it, have you guys ever NetBattled before?"

She wasn't certain about the conversation she'd get going, but attempting something was better than just sitting around.

Camillia delightfully waved back at the man, then watched him getting engrossed to the battle screen once more... So Rose's question suddenly startled herself, as well.

"Hm? Ah... Well, honestly, no," Camillia said uneasily, risking a laugh. "I only did it once, though. I think Rhea-- er, my Navigator-- likes it alot," she scratched her temples, a sincere smile creeping it's way into her features. "I don't think she has the same passion for her Operator, however," the redhead added, sighing.

Staring at the girl who was overloaded with pink, Camillia blinked, then shook off the rising admiration for Dunrae. "Ah. So you must be pretty experienced," she noted, about to get to ask for directions home when-- uh. What, NetBattles?

"Um... I'm not entirely sure what you mean," she acknowledged dumbly, not entirely well-versed with the lingo. Well, blame herself for not knowing enough on the subject. Out of her earshot (and viewshot), it was Rhea's turn to facepalm.

Aelieth arched his back as he treaded his way back to the Spectator's Lounge, the tedious labor of upgrading Holoß having forced him to stay hunched over for the majority of the trip back to the Colosseum. Several muffled pops jolted up the length of his spine, eliciting a groan from the Operator. He entered the room a great deal more relaxed than last time, the burden of progressing farther in the tournament already a distant memory. Resting upon his shoulder was the newly upgraded Holoß, the additional hardware that was affixed to his body giving his joints a slightly bulkier appearance.

Huh... it seems like the other matches are still going on... Aelieth thought, noting that neither Mill nor the man who had alerted them to the start of the round were in the room. Who he did find, however, was Rose, the young man who had approached them as Aelieth was leaving, and a girl whom he hadn't seen before conversing a little bit away from him. Smiling, he raised his hand in greeting as he made his way to the group. Once he was close enough that he could comfortably speak without raising his voice he lowered the hand, placing it in his pocket as he asked "So, anything change much since I've left?" The question wasn't directed specifically at any one of the group, though the way he held his body as he asked gave the impression that Rose was the intended recipient.

Over his shoulder, the blocky eyes of Holoß peered at the humans, having missed seeing the two that were present the last time his PeT was in the lounge.

The moment when Rose asked about the busting, was the same moment Shamus reached Rania's trade BBS. It was then that Shamus remembered he was going to jack Gear out of the network... and thanks to the match he had completely forgotten. While Gear finishing up the trade was rather nice of him, he could have did his post without trying to break the English language. Shamus changes the PET screen back to his navi only to find out that Gear was just sitting there...

The navi's who's goal in life is just destruction is just standing in the same place... either something is up or Gear is being smart at the moment and realized that he can't break much without the pitiful amount of chips his netop has at the moment. Well, either way... the navi would probably let Shamus know if it needed help or not.

Well, at least now he was paying more attention to his surroundings, hearing what Camilia and Rose were saying. At the moment Shamus was content at listening to their conversation, but decided to chime in when Camilia said she's "not entirely sure what you mean". His eyes turn to her before turning to the screens in the lounge.

"A Netbattle is navi on navi action, as in what is playing on those screens." Shamus tells Camilia, pointing to the screens she was watching. "But if it was something else you didn't quite understand... then I have no idea." the man added, bringing the hand back to himself and looking back at his PET screen only to see Gear messing with what is left of the oldstoves. At least the navi isn't just staying there doing nothing...

Of course, that was when Aelieth entered the room. Not exactly knowing who the voice belonged to, Shamus just kept his attention on his PET.

Apparently her attempt to start a conversation had worked. And just in case, someone who would certainly speak had returned, just to make it all a bit easier.

"Oh really?" Rose said, noting how new she was to Busting. Then, as the girl continued, "I wouldn't say really experienced. I mean, to be fair, we've only been doing it for a while, too. And well, we did lose our first match here." She said with a vaguely embarrassed smile.

Before she could answer Camilia's next question, Shamus cut in. So she just added. "Oh hi Shamus, nice of you to join us again." With a joking grin. "And yeah, what he said."

When she noticed the person walking into the room, she glanced back at one of the battles she had meant to watch. It was showing highlights, and the result, which told her the vaguely bad news. "Hi Aelieth!" She called. "Welcome back."

And he spoke. "Well, these two joined the conversation." Rose continued. "This lovely lady is Camilia Ranbard." She pointed at the girl in the wheel chair. "And you briefly him before, but this is Shamus."

Then holding her hand before her chess buddy, she introduced him. "Camilia, Shamus. This is Aelieth Hadrok." She then placed both hands back by her sides. "I'm sorry about your match." She added, quickly, and to Aelieth. "How're you doing?"

It was sort of a general statement, vague, but could imply anything from sympathy to asking what he'd done between when he left and when he came back.

She didn't really feel the need to clarify at the moment

The wheelchair-bound operator smiled at Dunrae's behaviour. She thought that she might actually like this Dunrae person, though she didn't know whether their friendship will last. For one... there was her own disability... Forcing those thoughts away, she was about to come about with a reply before-

-she sneezed at the air conditioning, inwardly cursing at the artificial environment. She didn't want to risk pulling a mean-looking face in front of strangers, however, so she just moved on from the sneeze immediately to address Shamus. "Oh... I never knew about that," she mumbled, her nose blocked from the sudden nasal outburst. Camillia was about to continue when she saw that Shamus had kept his eyes glued back to his PET again. Um. Quite amazing attention span he has, doesn't he? And why was she always interrupted when she was about to make a proper response to others?

Turning in her seat, she looked and saw someone else approaching. Another contestant... ? the redhead wondered, then had to give an embarrassed smile herself when Dunrae introduced her to the newcomer by the name of... Aelieth Hadrok. She was about to inquire about his combatant status, but Camillia just mumbled an apology at Hadrok for not realizing that he lost in his match.

"Bless you" Shamus says... And, well, that is all he really does other then wave at Aelieth. Yes... amazing attention span indeed...

"Nice to meet you, Camillia." Aelieth greeted the wheelchair bound operator, offering a friendly handshake to his new acquaintance. After ample time passed for the handshake to occur, he continued the formalities. "Shamus." He said, nodding at the teen's wave. He would've offered him a handshake as well, but Shamus seemed a bit... preoccupied. After introductions were finished, he turned his attention to Rose's question.

"Eh... I'm fine. A little disappointed that we lost, but we both knew my chances going into this," he shrugged. "But," he continued, a grin creeping across his face, "we didn't make it a cakewalk for Valkyrie either, so I'm feeling pretty good with how we did."

"So..." He cast about for a topic before the arena screens caught his attention. "... how are the matches going? Any surefire victors yet?"